Student Learning Map

  • Topic:03- Ecosystems and Energy
  • Subject(s):Science
  • Days:27
  • Grade(s):10
Key Learning:

Ecosystems are composed of interacting populations of organisms along with abiotic factors. As these various factors interact with each other, changes can occur which can ultimately result the changing of the ecosystem.
Unit Essential Question(s):
 
 

What is the relationship between biotic and abiotic factors in an ecosystem?
   
Concept:

Relationships of Organisms within the Biosphere

SC.912.L.17.9   SC.912.L.17.6  

The roles of producers, consumers and decomposers was introduced in middle school.

Students should be prepared to compare and contrast the following: predation, parasitism, competition, commensalism and mutualism.

Students should construct a food chain, a food web and demonstrate an understanding of the impact of sparcity and overpopulation within an ecosystem.

Address the reduction of available energy at successive trophic levels.

**See "Additional Information" below for unit lab activity.

HOTS: Deductive reasoning or constructing support could be used to address the ET LEQs.
Concept:

Biogeochemical Cycles

SC.912.E.7.1  

Biotic and abiotic factors were introduced in middle school. Students should have knowledge of the water cycle.

Introduce the carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus cycles.

Students should be able to discuss the interactions between each cycle (carbon, nitrogen and water) and explain how elements are recycled over and over again through the biogeochemical cycles.

HOTS: Inductive reasoning, deductive reasoning or constructing support could be used to demonstrate the ET LEQ.

Concept:

Population Biology

SC.912.L.17.5   SC.912.L.17.4   SC.912.L.17.6  

Describe the role that climate has on the various biomes of the earth.

Discuss primary and secondary succession and the role that they play in determining population sizes.

Explain the various factors that influence the carrying capacity of a system.

Discussion should include an emphasis on the concept of equilibrium.

HOTS: Constructing support, inductive reasoning or classifying/ categorizing could be used to demonstrate the ET LEQ.
Lesson Essential Question(s):

What influence do decomposers, producers and consumers have on an ecosystem?

 (A)

How do we use food chains and webs to show how energy flows through an ecosystem?

 (A)

How do the symbiotic relationships demonstrate the interdependence of living things?

 (A)

How do trophic levels demonstrate the Law of Conservation of Energy?

 (ET)

Lesson Essential Question(s):

How do biotic and abiotic factors work together to influence an ecosystem?

 (A)

How does matter move through the carbon and nitrogen cycle?

 (A)

How do the biogeochemical cycles demonstrate the Law of Conservation of Matter and Energy?

 (A)

Why would we study the phosphorus cycle?

 (A)

What influence does human action have on the biogeochemical cycles?

(ET)

Lesson Essential Question(s):

What influence do climatic trends have the biomes of the world?

 (A)

What are the similarities and differences between primary and secondary succession?

 (A)

What is the relationship between limiting factors and carrying capacity?

 (A)

How do multiple factors interact to determine population size?

 (ET)

Vocabulary:

*conservation of mass, *species, *biome, equilibrium

Vocabulary:

biogeochemical cycle, transpiration

Vocabulary:

*succession, demographics, exponential growth, habitat degradation

Concept:

Aquatic Systems

SC.912.L.17.2  

Discuss examples of aquatic ecosystems.

Identify factors such as chemistry, geography, light, depth, salinity and temperature and emphasize how these factors affect life in aquatic systems.

**See additional information below for unit lab.

HOTS: Constructing support, deductive reasoning or compare/ contrast could be used to demonstrate the ET LEQ. Suggested Compare/ Contrast: lakes in different geographic areas (ex- Florida vs. Colorado), fresh versus salt water systems, and estuaries.
Concept:
Concept:
Lesson Essential Question(s):

What are the essential components that affect life in an aquatic system?

 (A)

How can I identify different aquatic ecosystems?

 (A)

How do multiple factors affect the distribution of life in aquatic systems?

 (ET)

Lesson Essential Question(s):
Lesson Essential Question(s):
Vocabulary:

salinity, benthic zone, pelagic zone, neretic zone, photic zone, intertidal zone

Vocabulary:

Vocabulary:

Additional Info:

Lab Suggestion: Glencoe Textbook p. 84-85, Succession in a Jar. Lab should be started at the begining of the unit and could be extended to an inquiry lab to investigate factors of Aquatic Systems (Concept 4).

The asterisk (*) next to the vocabulary terms above indicates essential FCAT vocabulary.

Glencoe Biology textbook and ancillary materials

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Student Learning Map of Unit
Vocabulary Report
Unit Timeline

Acquisition Lesson(s):

1. How can population growth be graphed?2. What factors affect biodiversity?3. What are the essential components that affect life in an aquatic system?4. What are the major causes and effects of the loss of biodiversity?5. What are renewable and nonrenewable resources?6. How is adequate monitoring of environmental parameters useful in making policy decisions?

Extended Thinking Lesson(s):

1. How does one population impact others?2. How have Florida beaches been impacted by society?3. What is the relationship between costs and benefits of renewable and nonrenewable resources?4. Why is the monitoring of environmental parameters needed in public policy?5. What influences do humans have on environmental systems?6. How do human lifestyles impact environmental systems and sustainability?

Vocabulary Report

  • salinity -

    Dissolved salt content of a body of water.

  • biogeochemical cycle -

    A pathway by which a chemical element or molecule moves through both biotic ("bio-") and abiotic ("geo-") parts of an ecosystem.

  • parameters -

    Limits or boundaries that define a system.

  • sustainable use -

    Philosophy that promotes letting people use resources in wilderness areas in ways that will not damage the ecosystem.

  • transpiration -

    The loss of water through stomata in plants.

  • benthic zone -

    The lowest level of a body of water, such as an ocean or a lake.

  • indigenous species -

    A species which is native to a given region or ecosystem.

  • pelagic zone -

    The part of the open sea or ocean that is not near the coast or sea floor.

  • exotic species -

    Nonnative species in an area; may take over niches of native species in an area and eventually replace them.

  • neretic zone -

    The shallow ocean waters near the shore over the continental shelf.

  • *succession -

    The progressive replacement, on a single site, of one type of community by another.

  • invasive species -

    Native and non-native species that invade and heavily colonize a particular habitat, adversely affecting the habitat economically, environmentally or ecologically.

  • demographics -

    Population characteristics such as growth rate, age structure, and geographic distribution.

  • photic zone -

    Portion of the marine biome that is shallow enough for sunlight to penetrate.

  • exponential growth -

    Growth pattern where a population grows faster as it increases in size; graph of an exponentially growing population resembles a J-shaped curve.

  • intertidal zone -

    Portion of the shoreline that lies between high tide and low tide lines.

  • habitat degradation -

    Damage to a habitat by air, water, and land pollution.

  • *conservation of mass -

    The principle that mass cannot be created or destroyed; also conservation of matter.

  • *species -

    A group of organisms of common ancestry able to reproduce only among themselves and usually geographically distinct.

  • *biome -

    A complex biotic community characterized by the interaction of living organisms and climatic factors.

  • equilibrium -

    The state of a balanced, stable and mature community in which it undergoes little or no change in species; a climax community.